


You Don't Know What I'm Thinking

by Nova_Cain



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, klance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-30
Updated: 2017-03-30
Packaged: 2018-10-12 20:11:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10498605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nova_Cain/pseuds/Nova_Cain
Summary: Keith and Lance, neck and neck, always getting themselves into unnecessary trouble.One particular tussle lands them both in a cryo pod, where they're stuck in shared cryo-sleep for half a day.When they emerge, they'll be more closely connected than they might be comfortable with.[It's late, I don't want to do a summary. Basically Allura's mind-connection with the mice but between Keith and Lance for funsies, because my masochistic mind begged for it. You're welcome.]





	

**Author's Note:**

> Oh lordy here we go. Another klance fic idea that I got and decided to start writing iMMEDIATELY before it disappeared. I'm actually really happy with it so far, first draft unbeta'd and all. I'll come back later and correct mistakes (but I'm too rn tired man....)

            It was taking more effort than usual for Keith to drown out Lance’s stream of complaints. It was probably because they were stuck on pod-cleaning duty, which as Lance never hesitated to remind every occupant of the castle, was his _least favorite duty in the universe._

            Lance finished with a pod and deactivated it with one of his spiteful farewells: “Back to your hell pit, devil.” He mechanically moved on to the one right beside Keith, his litany gaining an angrier tone as he switched from a grumbling, whiny English into Spanish that became more passionate with every angry scrub of the sponge in his hands.

            “Ugh I hate this! You never see Pidge cleaning these things,” Lance said, switching momentarily back to English just for the sake of letting Keith know _exactly_ what was on his mind. Keith glared at the metal surface in front of him, his own scrubbing motions becoming sloppier as his annoyance with his fellow paladin built. _And we still have three more to go…_

            “Ha! I knew you thought the same way.”

            The suddenly cheerful tone in Lance’s voice caught Keith’s attention. His expression cleared as he looked over at Lance, wondering just what the other young man was talking about. Lance was actually grinning at him, having mistaken Keith’s silence and death-glare at the pod for agreement. When Keith realized this, he only glared hard at Lance before turning back to his job.

            “You don’t know what I’m thinking at all,” Keith muttered.

            Lance’s smile fell, only to be replaced by a cocky half-grin as he leaned against his pod. Keith could see the pose Lance was striking from his periphery, and that hip cock and arm flex that sent the alien girls giggling only served to piss him off. What was that little asshole doing, unthinkingly using the same position while talking to him? _It’s insulting._

            “Ah I see. You’re thinking ‘ _Wow, Lance is so much better than me at cleaning these things, it’s gotta be from using his arms so much for sharpshooting._ ’ Aw, thanks for noticing Keith. I knew a work-out-a-holic like you would appreciate a fellow dude’s muscle gains.”

Lance flexed some more, laughing as the sponge was squeezed dry in his grip and soapy water dribbled down his arm before splattering at his feet. Keith side stepped away from him, moving towards the back of the pod he was cleaning, his arms moving on their own in familiar motions.

            “Like I said, you don’t know what I’m thinking _at all_.”

            Lance picked up on the venomous tone and stopped his playacting. His grip went slack and he let the sponge drop from his hands to land beside him with a splat.

            “Alright, well then how about you actually give me something to work with? I’m the only one talking! You’re like a freaking _zombie with no brains, how am I supposed to know what you’re thinking?_ ”

            Keith could feel a familiar heat in his chest, the same one that appeared whenever Lance’s full attention was on him. He didn’t know what it was, at least not fully. Keith figured it must be a deep-rooted _loathing_ for the guy, one that only popped up when they weren’t in crisis-mode defending the universe, and that he couldn’t shake no matter how hard he tried to destroy or rationalize it. It didn’t make sense for him to hate a teammate, especially one who’s saved his ass numerous times and one he just _knew_ he would be willing to sacrifice himself for. Lance was family; the paladins, Allura, and Coran had been stuck together long enough for that to be mutually understood and accepted by everyone. _So why the hell do I hate him so much?_

            Fingers snapping in front of his eyes made Keith reel back in shock, and he blinked rapidly while trying to process Lance’s close presence. Lance was leaning toward him, one hand nestled in a pocket while the other dropped from in front of Keith’s nose.

            “It’s rude to space out when I’m talking, Keith,” Lance said, and the red paladin could actually _feel_ the way Lance’s voice rumbled in his chest, the vibrations shooting through the air between them just to dance against Keith’s torso, setting a new rhythm for his heart to follow. Keith’s frowned deepened and he stepped around Lance, moving back to the front of the pod that he had already cleaned.

            “What were you saying?” Keith asked as his hands started moving again on their own. Lance sighed with disappointment (from Keith’s obliviousness to whatever he had been saying or to the glorious space pun, the universe might never know) and shoved his other hand into his pocket.

            “Doesn’t matter now. But you know you already cleaned that spot, right?” Lance jerked his chin at the front of the pod, and Keith could feel his ears starting to burn. His pride demanded revenge for this slight, and before Keith could stop himself, his hand was flicking suds at Lance’s face.

            What followed was a soapy scuffle that escalated until they were ruthlessly clawing at each other, each trying to gain the upper hand. Seconds later someone lost their balance (it was probably Lance) and slipped on the sudsy battleground at their feet. They fell together, landing in an ungraceful pile at the bottom of the (now open) healing pod.

            Lance’s eyes shot wide in fear and he sat up, trying to shove Keith off of him as the red paladin tried to gain his own bearings. Lance reached towards the opening even as the particle door rematerialized in moments, leaving him to scrape at it in blind panic with his fingernails.

            “Lance? What’s going on?” Keith was rubbing at his head with one hand, nursing the spot where his skull had collided with the metal casing of the pod. His own eyes widened in panic as he realized they were crowded together – _Were the pods always this small?_

            Lance turned to him, his mind empty except for one final thought that slipped between his lips as the pod sensed the lifeforms within and activated the emergency cryo-sleep sequence.

            “Oh quizna—”

 

            – V –

 

            “Has anyone seen Keith?” Shiro asked as he looked around the dining hall for the paladin in question. Hunk didn’t spare a glance from his meal but shook his head as he tried to reply, his words slightly garbled from the food in his cheeks.

            “He hasn’t come in here,” Pidge translated, her voice emanating from one of the chairs facing away from the doorway.

            Shiro sighed and looked around the room again, as if Keith would suddenly materialize by the strength of the hope in his gaze alone. This was the last place he could feasibly be; Shiro had already checked every other inch of the castle.

            “That’s weird. We were supposed to spar an hour ago,” Shiro said with a sigh. He leaned against the doorframe, gathering his thoughts and assessing his options.

            Pidge leaned around the back of her chair, peering at Shiro with interest.

            “Gonna try out the new features on your arm?” She asked with excitement. Shiro looked up at her with a smile.

            “That _was_ the plan.”

            Hunk swallowed with a loud gulp and wiped at his lips before piping up with some possibly critical information.

            “Lance has been missing for most of the day, if that helps,” Hunk supplied.

            Shiro’s brow furrowed more in thought than in actual concern; most their time spent together was dedicated to their habitual bickering, and the corridors would have been echoing with their raised voices. Shiro would have found them both _ages_ ago if that was the case. But on the off chance that they were behaving rationally…

            Shiro slid a hand across the wall, searching for a small control panel with the sensitive fingers of his metal arm. One pressed-button later, Coran’s cheery mustache filled a projected screen. The Altean backed up from the camera until Shiro could see his complete face as he gave his customary greeting.

            “Coran, have you seen either Lance or Keith?” Shiro asked. Coran noticeably perked up at the names of the blue and red paladins.

            “Why yes, Number One, in fact I had them clean the regeneration pods. But I haven’t spoken to them since.”

            “And how long ago was this?”

            “Oh, I’d say… half a quintent by now.”

            _Half a day… no wonder the castle had been so quiet._

            “We need to find them. Coran, can you check the pod bay?”

            “On it.”

 

            – V –

 

            Coran looked around as he walked into the room where the regeneration pods were kept. By all appearances, it was completely empty. Coran was about to turn about and walk away when a thought struck him: the first time he had Lance assist him in cleaning the pods, the castle had been malfunctioning because of a Galra crystal, and the poor young man had been trapped inside one.

            _Pidge cleared the virus out a long time ago and added specific safety protocols to the pods… an incident like that shouldn’t happen again._

            Coran squinted carefully at the closed hatches on the floor, beneath which the pods were stored safely away.

            _But Keith is missing as well. That_ does _change things._

He knew that hormonal young men could often get themselves into trouble; he was young too once.

            _…A quick check couldn’t hurt._

            The longer everyone spent together in the Castle of Lions, sailing through the known universe on their mission to defeat Zarkon, the more Coran trusted the young paladins to complete tasks around the castle that he cherished and maintained.

            They were the _Paladins of Voltron_ , the _Defenders of the Universe._ Surely they could be trusted with simple maintenance. With each victory against Zarkon, with each planet freed from tyranny, Coran overlooked that still-immature side of them more and more, treating them like the adults they had not yet grown into but he could see them one day becoming.

            Coran silently berated himself for that as he punched commands into the room’s main control panel. No matter what the circumstances of the galaxy were, as a father –

Memories of children long dead halted Coran’s fingers.

_As a father, there are some things I shouldn’t ever forget._

He hit a final button and all the pods lifted from their underground chambers, and he walked over to check on each one. Three were sparkling clean, quite a few were still dirty – he chuckled and walked on. He’d deal with that later – but there was one that had a shining particle door so pristine he could see his reflection. The sponges used to clean it had dried out on the floor vargas ago.

Coran peered into the pod and sighed with relief. As he saw that Keith and Lance were inside, frozen in a tangled embrace, he suddenly remembered how he had first seen them when they came to the castle.

They were only children, thrust into a dangerous new world, lost in a galaxy far from home.

**Author's Note:**

> Tadaaaaa.  
> you know the drill. Lemme know what your thoughts are, hope you enjoyed. It's not over; I didn't even get to the really fun parts yet but I can't think anymore need sleep byeee


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